All the necessary development works to increase the operational capacity of JCT, the oldest container terminal at the Port of Colombo, are currently being completed to be officially commissioned by the end of the month. In order to observe the on-going upgrades Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva, undertook an inspection visit to the terminal last Tuesday, the ministry said.
In addition to the 14 gantry cranes currently in operation, the new development works at the terminal include installing 03 new 45-meter high gantry cranes, lengthening the 1280 -meter anchorage by increase it by 120 meters, expanding the container yard by 13 acres, etc. SLPA has invested Rs 10 billion on the upgrading.
After the completion of these development works, it will be possible to berth 02 large container vessels at the same time and increase the efficiency of container handling, SLPA says.Accordingly, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority emphasizes that the number of containers currently handled by the terminal will increase from 1.8 TEUs million to 2.5 million TEUs per year.